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'A thing of beauty is a joy forever; its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness, but still will keep a bower quiet for us, and a sleep full of sweet dreams, and health and quiet breathing' Keats

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About Me

I am lucky enough to work from home indulging my passion for vintage & antique textiles, haberdashery & other paraphernalia that I just can't live without. I am partial to chippy paintwork, faded photographs & reading cards & letters that have long ago lost their owners. I realise that I will never make my fortune doing what I love, but the pleasure I get from hand~making something completely unique is reward enough. Working with treasures in the form of textiles, buttons, beads & trims is a privilege and I strive every day to learn more about their past.

Friday, 1 May 2009

I love this time of year in the garden ~ not that I can claim to be a gardener...I am to gardening what a back seat driver is to driving ~ I can imagine how I would like the garden to look, but not sure exactly how to get there! I can just about tell the difference between a weed and something more valuable that should be left alone (or perhaps watered occasionally!) I always start the year off with great enthusiasm for cottage style gatherings of pots and containers filled with lavender, geraniums and the like, but sadly by the end of summer my promises of watering every evening have quietly fallen by the wayside and mutterings from my husband of 'I told you so' which makes me so mad I could go and trample across his azaleas (if we actually had any!) This year no doubt, will be no different because already I am teetering on the edge of a shopping precipice to purchase some more floral lovelies...

I do have a husband that thankfully loves gardening (giving him a very valid reason why he cannot be inside doing any other kind of jobs...) and is good at it, which in return lets me off the hook a bit...I am better in a more supervisory role, explaining that of course the garden is an extension of the house and therefore colour schemes, planning and design all come under the main heading of 'This Is What The Wife Wants'.

The latest project has been a small decked area on which to place a bench we have had for ages and recently painted white. Husband made a raised deck as this small patch of garden is on a bit of a slope and created some little steps at one end. He painted the deck a soft sage green colour and here it is in all its glory...it just needs a pot or two with maybe some hydrangeas?

We wanted a bench in this little spot as it faces the sun in the evening and looks out across our rose garden ~ I am imagining the month of June sitting here peacefully after gorgeous girl has gone to bed slowly sipping a glass or two of fine wine and taking in the wonderful aroma of the fragrant roses.

I am of course romanticising ~ in reality gorgeous girl will have probably got to bed later than hoped after a mad day all ending in tears (mine not hers) and I will be clutching a much needed extra large gin and tonic. The sun will have all but disappeared behind the trees and with flailing arms; having forgotten that I was standing on a raised deck will lurch backwards into aforementioned roses. The following morning will be spent contorted into some ungainly pose whilst poor husband has the unenviable task of removing the thorns from my perforated derriere with a pair of eyebrow tweezers. Ho hum, well it wouldn't be the first time...

Have a lovely bank holiday weekend everyone ~ I promise to do some more catching up with your blogs over the next few days...